Improved watee-anchoe



N. PETERS, PHOTO-UTHQGRAPNER, WASHINGTON, u C. I'

glatten gratte @stmt @Hita NORMAN W. WHEELER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

Lette-8 Parme No. 65,625, ma .am 11,` 1867.

IMPROVED WATER-ANCHOR.

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TOAALL WHoM IT MAY coNcEnN;

Be it known that I,` NGRMAN lV. WHEELER, of the lcity of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of New York, have invented-a new and useful Vater-Anchor for sea-going vessels; and I hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description of the construction Vand operation thereof,- reference being had to the accompanying drawings, with let-ters of reference marked thereon, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of the anchor when spread and as in use; and

Figure 2, a pla-n of the anchor partially folded- Like letters of reference indicating the same parts in both figures.

Water-anchors or drags have been used heretofore for holding ships heads to the sea lwhen they were disabled in their rigging or engines, and tended to lie in the' trough of the sea, and in manycases have been merely spare spurs or cases of merchandise attached to the fore part of' the ship by ropes in such a way that the resistance afforded by the drag would tend to bring the ship into a sat'er position landdiminish the drifting to leeward. Latelgthere have been in use upon a few ships water-anchors made in the form of umbrellas, with iron frames and heavy canvas covering attached thereto, which have usually performed their oice'well. One objection, however, may bemade to this device, viz, the quantity of metal required for its fabrication causes it to sinlrtooV deeply below the surface when in use, thus making the angle of the hawser with the horizon too great.v

The object of my invention is -to provide a simple, light, and cheap water-anchor, which will be very eilicient when in use, and capable'oi` being folded intoa small compass for stowavge.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that A A represent two cross-pieces, secured together by the bolt B in such a way that they may be opened or shut. E a parallelogram ofA canvas properly reinforced by ropes sewn thereto, and with the ropes ff g y attached to the c'ornersof the canvas and also to the ring Ic. At D D the ropes g y pass-through holes in the-ends of one cross-piece, o'r may be secured thereto in any sucient manner, while at c c are seen dead-eyes or thimbles let into the ends ofthe cross-piece in such a way that the. ropes will render freely through them. When the cross-pieces a a are folded the ropcs'ff must render through the thimb-les c c, as seen in iig. 2, so that a pull upon the ring klwill only affect the ropes and the ropes g g will remain slack until the cross-pieces are spread so as to coincide with the corners of the canvas.

Now if this anchor be attached to a ship which has motion through the water by a hawser made fast to the ring c, the weight of the anchor and the resistance of the water will cause the canvas to be spreadout and oder a great resistance to the drifting of thesliip to leeward. To the canvas E, which is cut, so that it will be bellied out by the action of the water upon it, is attached bythe rope m a weight, Z, for the purpose of sinking the anchor to any depth required, the weight being detachable, and it may be added to or taken from, as occasion may require. Another action of this weight is to cause whichever side of the anchor is the lowest toassume a position in advance ot' the opposite side, and thus tend to force the anchor down and below the surface, and prevent the anchor skipping from crest to crest of the waves. To facilitate the handling of the anchor the ropez' is attached to one of the cross-.pieces at j, and led through the eye L in such a way that a pull npon'the rope will tend to draw the ends of the crosshpieces together and spill the canvas, so that if the rope 1f bc fast to the ship, and left slack when the ship is riding to the water-anchor, it may easily be spilled and drawn on board; or the spill- Wing linez' may be attached to the ring c, suliicient slack being allowed, or even left to hang loose, and the anchor ew spilled after it has been hauled within reach of the men on boardoi' the ship.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 1. The water-anchor herein described, when the ropes are so arranged, in reference to the cross-pieces C D, as to expand t-he anchor by their tension, in the manner and for the purposes described.

2. In combination with the above, the spilling line, attached and operating substantially as andl for the purposes described.`

3. The combination ofthe weight Z, canvas E, and cross-pieces AA, when arranged in the manner described.

` NORMAN W. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

FRANK C'. PMNDLE, Jona E. COOPER. 

